Remote gaming from Gibraltar

All gambling operations in Gibraltar require licensing under the Gambling Act 2005 ("the Act"). Remote Gambling licences, including for telephone and Internet betting, are issued by the Licensing Authority. The Gambling Commissioner, appointed under the provisions of the Act, is granted powers to ensure that licensees conduct their operations in accordance with their licenses and maintain the good reputation of Gibraltar.

General

The Licensing Authority has traditionally only considered licensing blue chip companies with a proven track record in gambling in other jurisdictions. Nevertheless, the jurisdiction will also consider the licensing of appropriately funded start-ups and expanding operations proposing to relocate wholly or partly from other jurisdictions. Applicants, who might include those wishing to enter emerging non-EU markets, are expected to have a clear business plan where the source of legitimate funding can be clearly identified.

Licensees will be expected to establish proportionate substance in Gibraltar and make an economic contribution to the jurisdiction. The Licensing Authority understands the challenges around the need for multi-jurisdictional technology frameworks, including the use of cloud services and is prepared to work constructively on this issue with applicants. The jurisdiction remains a hub for both UK and international facing operators with a pool of remote gambling talent concentrated here.

Gibraltar is a business supportive, but well regulated jurisdiction, with political stability and a strong commitment to transparency and the rule of law.

The key principle in considering the licensing of operators is keeping crime out of gambling.

This means:

(a) ensuring that those with a criminal history or with criminal connections do not own or control gambling businesses;

(c) that licensees are prepared to meet internationally acceptable anti money laundering standards and have appropriate measures in place to prevent terrorist and proliferation financing.

Applicants must be prepared to submit themselves to regulatory due diligence which focuses on establishing ultimate beneficial ownership and control of the business. This will include transparency around trusts and other structures. We will need to understand the corporate structure of the group of which the applicant is part.

Executive management will need to demonstrate their competence through a cogent business plan and also through proposals for effective governance, policies and procedures (including consumer protection and social responsibility).

Key individuals may expect to supply certificates of good conduct from jurisdictions in which they have worked or resided, or in which they retain nationality. Previous regulatory history will also be taken into account. Past offending of a minor, historical and non-material nature may not be a bar to licensing (or holding a key function), but the Licensing Authority will reject applicants (individual controllers or those from holding key management functions) if they fall short of the fitness and propriety threshold.

Outlining the economic benefits that applicants hope to bring to the jurisdiction including employment, rental of office space, use of Gibraltar technical infrastructure providers and future tax yield (PAYE, Corporation tax, etc.) is all relevant information which will assist the applicant.

Before a formal licence application form and subsidiary documentation is issued (such as individual questionnaires for key individuals), potential applicants are expected to engage with the Gibraltar Gambling Division and the Gambling Commissioner, who acts as adviser to the Licensing Authority. This engagement is an early assessment of the suitability and competence of the operator, its controllers and proposed management.

If an applicant passes this threshold, then an “in principle” decision to licence will be made or the applicant told that any application is unlikely to succeed. However, a licence would not be issued and a “go-live” date agreed until the full due diligence process is completed and a thorough evaluation of the business plan (which may include past accounts or robust financial projections) has been finalised.

Timescales for licensing are variable, but a high quality application which comprehensively covers issues relating to ownership, control, governance, management, a clear and credible business plan and policies in respect of anti-money laundering, terrorist & proliferation financing, data protection and social responsibility/consumer protection can be processed within a relatively short period of time.

The provision of demonstrably incomplete, false or misleading information or a reluctance to respond to reasonable requests is likely to be fatal to any application. That said the pre-licensing stage is iterative and designed to assist applicants in constructing a quality application that will be thoroughly and fairly assessed.

Below are some of the principal conditions and licensing requirements for fixed odds betting and online casino operations.

Advertising Guidelines

The licensee shall ensure that all advertising, promotion and sponsoring activity of whatever type and through whatever medium (including the Internet) with regard to the gambling activities shall be truthful and accurate. It shall be exclusively targeted at adult players and shall therefore not be designed to appeal in any way to minors. Licensees shall ensure that such Internet websites as are used to advertise, promote and/or operate its gambling activities shall not include links to other sites with violent or immoral content or that may be designed for access by minors. The licences are issued on the basis that the advertising and promotion of gambling activities can only be directed to citizens of nations in which it is not illegal for such activities to be undertaken and that the licensee will not provide gambling activities to any person where the provision of such services by the licensee would be illegal under the applicable law.

Payout of prize monies

The licensee will at all times have adequate financing available to pay all current and reasonably estimated prospective obligations in respect of prize payouts and to ensure there is adequate working capital to finance ongoing operations. The licensee will pay winnings and account balances to registered players in accordance with clearly established arrangements agreed to with the customer.

Customer privacy and data protection

Licensees are required by the Licensing Authority to obtain at least the following basic personal information with regard to all prospective customers. This shall include full name, residential address, and date of birth. Upon obtaining the required information and completing any due diligence arising there from, the licensee shall be entitled to deal with the customer as a registered player.

Gaming duty

A copy of the Gambling (Duties and Licensing Fees) Regulations 2018 can be found here.

Duty

Rate

Exemption

General Betting Duty

0.15%

The first £100,000 of the operator's gross betting profit on bet receipts in each year.

Betting Intermediary Duty

0.15%

The first £100,000 of the operator's gross profit on betting event revenues in each year.

General Gaming Duty

0.15%

The first £100,000 of the operator's gross gaming yield on gaming receipts in each year.

Accounts & Audit

The bank accounts into which any customers, funds, stakes, wagers, prizes or other monies are received, held or paid out from shall be controlled by the company. The operation of any credit card merchant account used in the course of the business shall be fully and effectively controlled by the company. No bank account or credit card merchant account, nor the receipt, processing, holding and clearance of customer funds and credit card transactions, shall be maintained by the licensee in a jurisdiction other than Gibraltar, or in a Gibraltar licensed institution without the prior approval of the Licensing Authority. The licensee shall be required to produce audited accounts to the Licensing Authority each year during the licence period and maintain its financial records in accordance with the applicable law from time to time. The licensee shall also be required to meet all its accounts and filing requirements as set out in the Companies Act, the Companies (Accounts) Act and Companies (Consolidated Accounts) Act and any other applicable legislation.

Effective Control

The licensee shall at all times be effectively controlled and managed from Gibraltar. The licensee shall be required upon request by the Licensing Authority to produce lists of key personnel (with CVs or such other information as is reasonably appropriate) including shareholders, directors and executive managers involved in the management and operation of the licensee's business in Gibraltar. The licensee hereby agrees that the control of the entire business of the licensee will be exercised in Gibraltar, so that, inter alia, but without limitation to the generality of the foregoing, the bank accounts into which any customer's funds, stakes, wagers, prizes or other monies are received, held or paid out from shall be controlled by the licensee. The operation of any credit card merchant account used in the course of the business shall be fully and effectively controlled by the licensee.

Codes of Practice

The Gambling Commissioner is responsible for drawing up and issuing codes of practice as to good practice in the conduct of their undertakings by licensees, and to ensure that licensees conduct their undertakings in accordance with the provisions of the Act. The licensee agrees to be bound by any code of practice issued by the Gambling Commissioner from time to time.

The Generic Code

The code of practice titled 'The Generic Code' is intended to be 'interpretive guidance' to the Gibraltar gambling industry in respect of the provisions of the Act, and outline, for development, a fair and transparent regulatory framework within which licensees will be required to operate.

Anti-Money Laundering Requirements

The Anti-Money Laundering Code of Practice is 'interpretive guidance' to the Gibraltar gambling industry in respect of the requirements of the Act, the Gibraltar Proceeds of Crime Act, and the 4th EU Anti-Money Laundering Directive. This code applies to all financial transactions associated with defined gambling activities undertaken under the authority of a Gibraltar remote gambling licence.

The Anti-Money Laundering Code of Practice for the Non-Remote industry can be viewed here.

The National Coordinator for Anti-Money Laundering and the Combatting of Terrorist Financing has published a newsletter detailing the changes made to the Proceeds of Crime Act and subsidiary legislation, this can be found here.

A copy of the latest iteration of Gibraltar's National Risk Assessment (2018) can be found here.The Commissioner's Risk Assessment of the gambling sector can be found here.

Licence Holders should also be aware of those jurisdictions deemed to be of higher risk in light of their AML/CFT deficiencies. The FATF regularly maintains and publishes a list of such jurisdictions. Those jurisdictions can be viewed here.

The Gambling Commissioner’s Enforcement and Sanctions Policy in respect of AML/CFT breaches can be found here.

Remote Technical and Operating Standards

The purpose of the Remote Technical and Operating Standards is to offer more detailed guidance to Gibraltar's remote gambling industry on meeting the broader policy requirements of Gibraltar's regulatory framework. This document includes technical, responsible gambling and other operating guidelines for Gibraltar's remote gambling industry.

Testing Requirements

Remote gambling licensees must ensure that their gambling products and services have been tested and certified as compliant with Gibraltar's regulatory model and standards. Certain independent test houses have been approved by the Gibraltar Licensing Authority to carry out this function. The following independent test houses had been approved by the Gibraltar Licensing Authority:

Customer complaints regarding breaches of licence conditions

Complaints about operators must follow the process set out in the Gambling Commissioner's advice to complainants. Complaints must be submitted in writing, by email, using the prescribed form (Complaint Resolution Request Form) to gccomplaints@gibraltar.gov.gi. Complaints cannot be dealt with by telephone.

Licensing and administration

Licence Type

Fee*

Remote Gaming B2C Operator

£100,000

Remote Betting B2C Operator

£100,000

Other Remote B2C Gambling Products

£100,000

Non-Remote B2C Gaming Operator (land Casinos)

£100,000

Non-Remote B2C Betting Operator (land Bookmaker)

£100,000

Gambling B2B Support Services

£85,000

*per licensing year

For further information on the issue and administration of gambling licences please contact: